I Can't Lose Him Too
by Country Timelord
Summary: Sarah is having a normal day at school, but what happens when she gets a phone call. It's not aliens that she has to defeat, but the life of the father she knows hangs in the balance. AU River, and AU Donna. Part of "Daddy's Girl" series.


**Chapter 1**

A mental groan becomes verbal as another student raises their hand. We had been going over the same problem of the same unit for over fifteen minutes now. The teacher shoots me an accusing glare, and I shrink lower in my seat. I can see where this is going already.

"If my class is boring you then perhaps you would like to teach it yourself," Mrs. Muggle says.

Yep, predictable.

"Well, don't just sit there," she implores, thinking she's so clever. "Come  
>work the problem yourself."<p>

Does she really think that she's the first teacher in my life to pull that old trick?

I shuffle to my feet, feeling the stares of my fellow classmates as I trudge to the front of the room and pick up the red expo-marker.

The classroom phone rings, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Mrs. Muggle shoots me another glare as she picks up the phone, just to let me know that I'm not getting out of this one quite yet.

"Yes…yes…she's here…thank-you…" Mrs. Muggle sighed, as she hung up the phone and pointed to me.

"You're going home, Ms. Smith," Mrs. Muggle grumbles. "Don't think this means that you are in any way above or ahead of the rest of the class."

I nod mutely and grab my red backpack, while the stares of my classmates seem to harden. I shoot a look of help to my one best friend in the class, Donna. She gives me a bit of a half grin and shooting her eyes towards the problem still waiting to be solved on the board. I give her a quick wink and uncap the marker still in my hand and rapidly work out the problem and even find the excluded value, just for fun.

I duck out the door in time to hear Mrs. Muggle mutter, "She still got it wrong."

I slide my head back in the door.

"Actually, you did, the two should be negative not positive when you factor."

I hear Donna's giggles as I hurry down the hall to the front office, wondering what Dad has planned this time.

I turn the door knob to the front office to see Uncle Tony standing there. His long blonde hair combed neatly and parted. His pale blue eyes peer into mine, but he can't read me. He's the complete opposite of who I expected to meet, and that's what scares me the most.

"Tony?" I ask timidly.

"Sarah," he starts, but I cut him off.

"He's hurt isn't he?" I ask softly.

I know the answer already; Tony's nod just confirms it.

"He…" Tony starts to explain.

"No!" I shoot back. "I don't wanna hear it. He'll be fine. He'll be right there when I come home…he'll be fine."

"Sarah…" he tries again.

"I'm going back to class," I mutter, not waiting for Tony's reply. Even Mrs. Muggle's class is better than the alternative.

***

I get through the chaos of the lunchroom first and find a corner of the lunch room that has some level silence, and open my _Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe_ and flip to the "Pit and the Pendulum," suddenly craving reading that will make my skin crawl.

I reach the part about the rat's cold wet lips lapping the prisoner's face; when Donna comes over and sits next to me. Her long red hair tied back in a ponytail, as she reaches out and closes my book with an audible _snap_.

"Hey," I greet with a sorry excuse for a smile.

"Hey, yourself," Donna says, lightly punching my shoulder. She frowns when I just shrug away. "What's wrong Bookworm?"

I chuckle dies in my throat as I try to humor her.

"Seriously, Sarah," Donna starts, more tenderly this time. "What's up, you get called to the office to go home, and you may be better in school than me, but my amazing brain tells me that you're still here. What gives?"

I debate telling Donna the truth. Some friend I am, to even consider lying to my one true pal for ten years. Tears burn my eyes, and I reach out to reopen my book, but Donna snatches it away; while she gives me a stern look that makes me shrink.

"Dad's hurt," I finally whisper.

Donna looks like she's about to ask 'how?' or 'when?', but instead she takes my arm and guides me up from the table. "Come on," she says.

"I haven't eaten anything yet," I protest weakly, still eyeing my book in her grasp.

"Too bad, you could have eaten when you were drowning your sorrows in the works of a dead psycho."

I consider debating this further, but I just don't feel up to it. I concede and Donna leads me out side into the sunshine and plops me down under an oak tree; while she takes a seat next to me.

"Now, spill," she orders.

"I don't know anything else," I tell her truthfully.

"Well, then why are you still here?" Donna asked, while she crossed her arms.

"I like school?" I try.

"Don't try that one," Donna says back. "Even nerds like us would take a meteor shower before we agreed to spend even a minute extra in the Muggle's cave."

I shrug mutely.

"You should be with him."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't," I repeat.

"_Why _not?" Donna presses.

"Because I can't lose him too!" I yell back at her, before I can catch myself.

"Sorry," I apologize.

Donna just gives me a smile and draws me in for a hug.

"It's all right," she soothes.

I vaguely become aware of Tony approaching behind me and gently loosening me from Donna's grip.

***

I rub my arms against the gooseflesh forming on my arms. Why are hospitals always so clinical and cold? The sterile white walls glare back at me shining the fluorescent lights back at me and making my head spin.

I pulled the slip of paper that Tony handed to me and doubled checked the room number–not that I needed to. I just wanted to give the real me another chance to wake up from this nightmare.

The cool door knob yields easily underneath my grip as I slide inside. A slow and steady beep fills the room, and my eyes fall on the one figure in the bed.

"Dad?" I whisper, as I take his hand and sit on the edge of his bed.

His eyes flutter open and his lips teasingly stretch to a partial grin. "You're a bit late," he teases, but his words still assault me with guilt.

"I'm sorry, I was just…I…" What was I? Childish? Yes. Selfish? But, above all that I was hurt. I was  
>a scared, hurt little girl again, that just couldn't stand to lose her Daddy.<p>

He chuckles at my stuttering. "Shhh," he coos, reaching up a long finger and tucking a stray lock of blonde hair he always seemed to be fond of behind my ear and wiping a stray tear that I didn't know had fallen from my eyes.

I take this time to really study him, there were minor scraps covering him, but I know Dad and he wouldn't have come here if he was just scraped up. So, I looked deeper. I stare into his eyes and found it. A faint pained glint came in his eyes every time he took too deep a breath.

"What happened?" I finally ask.

"A minor localized sonic shockwave directed at my body," Dad explains trying to glide over it with his techno-babble, but I knew his babble–he taught it to me.

"How was school?" he asks, a certain in the corner of his eyes wrinkling slightly.

I know he's changing the subject; because he doesn't wanna talk about it, but I let him; because maybe I'm not ready for the answer either. I flash my teeth at him and squeeze his hand in my grip. "How do you think?" I say through a genuine laugh this time.

"Mrs. Muggle?"

"Yep," I reply with a nod.

"What did you do?" he asks using his best 'father figure' voice.

"Nothing," I retort, trying to sound affronted, but I couldn't keep the grin from my face.  
>He raises an eye brow at me and I concede.<p>

"I was bored, they were working on the same problem _forever_…" I defend but the words died on my tongue as I hear the door open behind me.

"Hello, Sweetie," I hear the words behind me and I automatically know that it's time to go.

"Hi, River," I reply, and tighten my grip on Dad's hand almost subconsciously.

River was Dad's 'girlfriend' as she called herself. I don't think she is, though; she's just taking advantage of Dad. He's still heartbroken, and besides he's got me.

"Tony's here to take you home," she tells me.

"I don't wanna go," I retort, feeling my throat suddenly restrict. "I don't…can't leave."

River grins and gently tugs me away from Dad. Her hands are in reality gentle, but I feel like she roughly throwing me against the wall as my hand slips from Dad's grasp, which I now realize was limper–_weaker_–than it ought to be.

"I'll be here," River tells me.

Yeah, a fat lot of good you're gonna be to him.

"I'll be fine, Sarah," Dad promises as he motions me closer to him again. "Tomorrow's Saturday, you can come if you want, but not all day you've still got that project to finish."

I nod my head slowly bending down to wrap my arms around his neck. His arms clasp around my back and squeezes. I feel his shuddering breath against my body.

"See you later," he mutters into my ear before gently kissing the top of my head.

"Yeah," I reply as I trudge out the door of his hospital room.


End file.
